OT: Visit to France

We are having our vacation in France later this month. We'll be staying about 1 hour north west of Paris, close to Compiegne. Does anyone know the area? Any recommendations of things to do with a 22 month old? Also do restaurants have children's menus or should we bring some food to the restaurant with us for LO?

We are planning a day trip to Paris and I get free tickets to Parc Asterix using my supermarket loyalty card, so we've got some ideas but any recommendations would be a great help.

Comments (8)

I live in France but while I know the west, east, Paris region and somewhat the south, I've barely been up north.

About the restaurants, there are "kid-friendly" chains like Hippo. You can try it but honestly, kids are welcome in restaurants and their very accommodating. We just order normal food. They'll give you half portions, without sauce or whatever. French food is pretty basic so doing this is not asking a lot. Even with a very allergenic toddler, they were good with our requests.

Don't bring food unless he eats from jars but for a 22 month old, don't bother.

The small, one-off restaurants are more child-friendly than they look and the dress code is more casual than you'd expect. Don't hesitate to walk in those.

Restaurants open at 7pm. Very few are "non-stop" and this might seem late. If you go right when they open, it's usually pretty quiet. French people eat around 8. You'll have a quieter, easier time with waiters who are not too stressed. As you finish, pay and leave.

I haven't been to Parc Asterix, because my sil, who lives there, said it's better for older kids, like teenagers who like rides. I see two of yours' are, so this might actually be good news. If you are only going to hae the toddler, I would skip it and Disneyland (which has better parks in the States). Save that for a later visit.

Paris, and I would venture, France is pretty easy with children. There are small parks tucked away in almost every neighborhood. Toddlers love the deserts. In summer, there are tons of small fairs which set up in various towns, doing the rounds. The only glitch is visiting museums. My stroller has been refused and it can be difficult to "escape" if he has a meltdown.

Try to keep to public transport in cities and use the train to travel between. Kids love them and it avoids the whole car seat issue and driving in France is no fun :( Bring antiseptic wipes as they're rare here and watch out for pickpockets, especially on the Metro. Not to make you paranoid but you are a target with a child, who is an obvious distraction. Keep your valuables safe. Do NOT walk around in the street with your passport, if it can be avoided (use hotel safes or keep at friends' homes).

Learn to change him standing up since changing tables aren't that common. It's completely acceptable for boys to pee in plants. Also, breastfeeding is completely accepted, anywhere, anytime. French breastfeeding rates are pathetic but that's more because of the number of working women and some myths that still circulate. But as far as you doing it when it's needed, don't even think about it!

Contrary to what you'll read, you can wear shorts in public but make sure they're normal, fashionable shorts and that you don't look like you're walking around in workout gear (the French hate that). I feel more comfortable in capri-style short pants with sandals. Sitting on public benches and chairs can be kind of sticky in shorts. Footwear should not look like running shoes (they make fun of Americans with those).

While in France, Monoprix is your friend. Keep in mind the opening hours, especially outside of Paris. Everything closes at 7pm and much is closed between 12-2.

I've been to France a few times (Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Vendee), we love it! Last year we went to the south for the first time, stayed close to Beziers. I love hot weather and love French culture, so it was great. Its too far to drive with a toddler though, and I was so horrified with the car seat we had with the hire car, so we are driving and crossing Dover/Calais, and my older two are flying out to Paris the next day as our car is a bit small for all of us and the luggage. I thought French driving was ok? I've always been ok with it but then I drive like a Londoner! Even though I live in Wales, I've spent so much time in London that big cities and bad driving doesn't really bother me much ;) Driving on the right doesn't bother me either, I get more confused when we get back to Britain, really don't know why that is.

I know what you mean about Museums and strollers, that happened to us last year, we just took turns to carry him, but it was hard work in the heat! This year will be a bit easier as he'll walk for a very long time and never has meltdown, I think of it as compensation for the speech/communication issues we are having ;)

The information on eating out is great, thanks! We've never done that with a toddler in France. We eat out a lot by British standards when we are home, and he's really good in Restaurants as long as we don't stay too long! It was easy last year, we just sat outside, so I'll be a bit anxious this year but feeling better after reading your advice!

The passport thing has got me a bit worried, I thought we had to carry them in France as its illegal not to carry ID? Would our UK drivers licences be ok to carry instead?

I don't think I've been in a Monoprix, I'll have to look out for that. We usually just shop for groceries in the closest Supermarche to where we are staying, usually a Super U or Carrefour (sp?).

I'll have a word with my older two about their clothing and footwear! They don't have much workout gear but it has been known. I tend to wear a lot of linen stuff in the summer so I'll be ok. My finest moment was being mistaken for a Venetian in Venice, I was so thrilled!

Another tip for restaurants; go have dessert elsewhere. This was what we still do. They get wiggly in restaurants, even older (the oldest is the worst!) The change of scenery and hopefully, the option to sit outside in a cafe work. Then you can sit and enjoy your coffee and dessert. If you're somewhere remote, you can just move to the terrace.

I just wanted to say about the clothes, that IMO its usually not as stereotyped for youth as they are usually identifying with something anyway. It's more the adult wearing sneakers thing with slacks that usually screamed American! I laugh at it cause it's so true, but my dad,dh and I do it too and neither of us are Americans...
In restaurants I sometimes have a head time finding a high chair, although its getting a lot better these days. Restaurants figured out that parents wanted to go out with kids too!

We don't have ID cards in the UK, don't have to carry anything, so DH and I will have to get our passports and drivers licences out of the safe! Most young adults carry some form of ID here but only so they can buy age restricted goods.

Thanks for the warning, Yaele. I'll have to take our portable high chair (it straps to a normal chair and packs down to bag sized). Thomas would be a nightmare in a restaurant without a highchair.

Major panic yesterday! I was researching on travel advice websites and realised that my sat nav is now illegal in France. I spent 3 hours downloading updates to see if that would get rid of the speed camera warnings and ended up e-mailing Garmin for advice. I've just followed the steps they suggested so I hope I've taken off the cameras. The idea of having my car taken off me is scary!

I had a jogging jacket in Europe and I felt that they thought it was low class. However, it saved my butt when I wanted to go into the Sistine Chapel. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt, and was denied entrance because of it. So I put on my jacket and was allowed in! Hooray!

No, I don't know anything about that! My dh has a thingy that plugs into the socket that emits a beep when there's a speed camera. Just got nabbed with that one (there's one on every turn in Alsace). Wish I had borrowed his!

I forgot that you don't have national ID's. I remember they talked about it. Politics aside, they're convenient. I only needed those little cards to enter the U.K.